Steel-ladle-oryinq furnace



.(No Model.) 7

D. H. WILLIAMS.

' STEEL LADLE DRYING FURNACE.

No. 313,701. Patented Mar. 10, 1885.

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DAVID H. \VILLIAMS, OF BELLAIRE, OHIO.

STEEL LADLE DRYENG FURNACE.

....LECEFLCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313,701, dated March 10, 1885.

(No model.)

1'0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID H. WrLLrAMs, of Bellaire, in the county of Belmont and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Steel-Ladle-Drying Furnaces;

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying draw ings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of my improved furnace for drying Bessemer ladles. Fig. 2is a cross-sectional view. Fig. 3 is a plan View, )artly in section.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.

Prior to my invention it was customary to dry the ladles used in the manufacture of steel either by a gas-furnace arrangement or by means of a fire of wood or coke made in the ladle. The latter method is the more common in this country,and usually requires about two days time. It is further objectionable because it produces large volumes of smoke and inju-, rious gases, which blind the men and retard them in their work. Hence it is desirable to have the drying operation take place outside of that portion of the works where the men are engaged, or in a separate shed or building. My invention enables this to be done in two or three hours, and at the same time permits the use of the ordinary cranes, by which the ladles are handled in placing them in and removing them from the drying-furnace, and also effects a very large saving in the matter of fuel.

It consists of a furnace, a, mounted on a suitable truck, I), the wheels I) of which are adapted to run upon a track or railroad. This furnace is composed of an iron casing, c, lined with fire-brick d, and is provided with grate bars 0, below which is a tight chamber or windboX, f, fitted with a pipe or opening, 9, for the reception of a blast-pipe or blast-pipe connection. Bolted to the truck around the furnace are standards h, of any desired number, for the purpose of guiding the ladle when it is placed in its inverted position over the mouth or open top of the furnace, so that its lining shall not be injured.

The furnace a is filled to the proper height with coke, which is ignited, and the ladle is placed on top or over it,with its mouth downward or in an inverted position. The truck is then run to a suitable shed or other place away from the portion of the works where the men are engaged, and a blast-pipe is connected to the openingy and the blast turned on. The air from the blast passes into the box or casing f and ascends between the grate-bars. By this means a ladle can be thoroughly dried in an hour and a half, where by the former coke arrangement it took from twenty-four to thirtysiX hours. In addition to this, a saving of forty tons of coke per month has been effected by me by the use of this improvement, in a Bessemer plant employing twelveladles, over the old coke-furnace. Moreoventhe deleterious gases arising from the drying ladle do not affect the health of the workmen, as the drying operation is carried on away from them. When the drying is completed, the truck is run back un til it is in range of the crane, and the ladle is lifted off.

I do not limit myself to any particular form or size of furnace, but claim, broadly, the construction described.

I am aware that the blast-chamber and firebox have been used in conjunction with aperforated pipe adapted to enter a barrel, thata stove adapted by its form to enter a barrel to e heat-ed has been employed in conjunction with spring-guides to center the barrel, and that the stove or fire-chamber of a barrel-heater has been mounted on a truck, so as to be movable, and do not herein claim the same, for the reason that in barrel-heaters the article to be treated is light, portable, and readily handled, the heat required is comparatively low, and consequently we find in all such constructions the fire-chamber is either closed or connected with the barrel by a perforated nozzle, and the heating is done by radiated heat or heated air, and not directly bythe products of combustion, and the barrels are carried to the heater, while in the present instance the fire-chamber is open, and the ladle forms the crown of the furnace, so that the products of combustion impinge directly on the lining of the ladle, the furnace is moved to the ladle I00 and transports its load from the works, and the guides serve not only to center the heavy ladle, but also to prevent its sliding or shifting when the furnace is moved from place to place, which differences are material in this class of devices. I

v WVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A portable furnace for drying steel-ladies, composed of an open-mouthed movable fire-box adapted to enter the ladle, and provided with a blast-chamber or Wind-box arranged beneath the grate of the fire-box,where- 'by the products of combustion may be forced into and through the ladle, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. A furnace for drying steel-ladies, consist- 1ng of an'open-mouthed fire-chamber mounted on a Wheeled platform and provided with a blast-chamber or wind-box arranged below the grate of the fuel-chamber and delivering thereinto, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. In a furnace for drying steel-ladies, the combination, with a Wheeled platform having a central Wind-box or blast-chamber, of an open-mouthed fire-chamber arranged over 25 the blast-chamber of the platform, and ladleguides concentric with the fire-chamber, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 23d day of October, A. D. 1883.

DAVID H. \VILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

A. D. HILBORN, J. R. MoOoRTNEY. 

